How do you interveiw a tramatized war veteran?

Answer 1

You need to use tact, patience and understanding. You need to respect the veteran. If he says that he doesn't want to talk about it leave it alone. When asking questions vets usually find questions along the lines of "did you kill someone" or "how many people did you kill" quite offensive. We are forced to live with trying to reconcile our actions and behaviors with our beliefs and religion all the time. It's difficult to comprehend some of the things we have done for our country for us we (honestly) don't expect civilians to get it when we cannot. Use open ended questions like "do you regret your service?" "would you do it again?" "what prompted you to enlist" and then wait for the vet to respond. Also ask about funny stories or incidents (we all have them) in the beginning that will help them try to relax. You could say "so can you tell me the funniest thing that happened to you on active duty or while you were overseas", "what kinds of activities did you guys do to blow off steam?" "did you make funny military videos and post them on YouTube?" etc etc. By allowing them to open up with non-controversial topics you will put them at ease. It's easiest to talk to an interviewer who we know is not going to slander us, attack us for our actions or beliefs, or create drama from what we have told to you. Good luck!